"Place Beyond the Pines" tells the story of a motorcycle stunt rider-turned-bank robber who turns to crime to try to feed his family. Derek Cianfrance directs from a script he wrote with Ben Coccio and Darius Marder. Gosling stars in the film, and Cooper plays a hotshot cop on the biker's tail. Cianfrance also collaborated with Gosling on 2010's “Blue Valentine.”

Focus plans to add 22 theaters and 13 markets next week, before going nationwide with at least 250 theaters on April 12.

IFC Films' "Room 237," Rodney Ascher's documentary that explores theories about the hidden meanings within Stanley Kubrick's film "The Shining," also debuted strongly. It brought in $36,000 from 2 theaters in New York.